


It's a Hard Life

by WaterWolf (WaterTribeWolf)



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra, Korra - Fandom
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-07
Updated: 2015-09-07
Packaged: 2018-04-19 13:25:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4748066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WaterTribeWolf/pseuds/WaterWolf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A raven-haired beauty finds herself prowling the streets in search for revenge.<br/>A sapphire eyed warrior struggles with her identity.</p>
<p>A chance meeting sets them both on a course of hardship - battling for justice in a harsh world, they will realise that if they look for the light, they'll be sure to find it.</p>
<p>But if they look for the dark, it is all they will ever see.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Trouble

**Author's Note:**

> This is a bit darker than what I'm used to, but there will be a lot of fight scenes where I get to work on my descriptive powers and will be a lot of fun to write as a martial artist myself.
> 
> Please have patience with me as I am a very slow writer, but I would love some feedback on what I have written thus far!
> 
> And of course: I do not own Legend of Korra, Legend of Aang or any of the characters affiliated with the show, etc etc etc :).

“Hey baby, where you headed?”

_Here we go again..._

“Nowhere you’re going,” she calls, keeping her eyes ahead. She takes her hands out of her pockets, ready...she can hear their heavy footfalls behind her. Four...

“Awww, c’mon baby!”

“Must a seen ya face, man!” She hears laughter behind her – it’s hard, suggestive...she imagines the spittle flying from their mouths. Her pace quickens. The footfalls come heavier, faster.

“We just wanna talk to ya!”

_No. I know exactly what you want._ One of them reaches out, his fingertips just grazing the shoulder of her leather jacket...

_And you’re not getting it._

In a flash she has spun around, raven hair flying, and knocked the man back. Her fist is clenched, hard, and she can see blood start to run from his nose as he stares at her, grinning. He’s grinning.

“Oh, this will be fun,” he says, turning to the three other men with him.

“Looks like we got a fighter, boys...”

They rush her, and for a split second it is pure chaos as fists fly, but then the fight is structured, calculated, understood only by those with a trained eye. Nothing about her actions is random; every kick and punch is thought out, executed within seconds of analysis of her opponents. It becomes clear that she is a trained fighter – each technique has been committed to muscle memory, practised so regularly that it comes as naturally as breathing. The same cannot be said for her assailants. They attack randomly, confident of their sheer size and strength and at first underestimating the skill of their would-be victim. But it soon becomes clear that strength is not everything, and before long two of the men are lying in the street – one clutching his cracked ribs, the other staring in horror at his misshapen wrist.

There is a pause in the struggle in which the two men left standing seem to consider their options. They study her for a moment with her fists raised and chest heaving, sweat glistening against the glare of the street lamp. Throughout the fight she has maintained a controlled composure, eyes and face fierce with every technique she’s thrown at them...and with every hit they’ve missed. She’s fast, precise and...she’s getting distracted. It looks like they’re giving up as the shoulders of the men slump and they start to nurse the bruises already forming on their faces and she knows she’s grinning with victory, she knows she is, and she knows she shouldn’t let them see it so easily but the three of them are walking away now so she drops her fists to... _Wait, where’s the fourth?_ Upon this realisation she spins round only to have a heavy fist smash into her jaw – it knocks her back, and her head is spinning as a kick finds itself against her ribs and a fist smacks her across the brow. She gets her fists up but they’re on her now, wild haymakers hitting her every which way until she falls to her knees. She can feel the blood pouring from her nose and all she thinks about in this moment is how stupid she was for getting so cocky to think the danger was over... The biggest of the men grabs her by the lapel of her jacket and smirks into her face.

_It was bound to happen sometime. No one can win forever..._

“Ohh, I am going to enjoy this...” he spits.

_I don’t want this, get off me._ But she can’t raise her fists and she can barely see... She feels the jacket slip off her shoulders...then she hears footsteps.

“HEY!”

The steps are running now, getting closer, and she knows that the men have loosed their grip on her because she’s fallen to the floor and she can see that they’re silhouetted against the street lamps. A fifth figure appears, facing the four.

“This is none of your business, lady. Clear out.”

“I’m making it my business,” a new voice, deep and clear, snarls.One of the men steps towards this new arrival and in a blur he’s been flipped onto his back, where he stays gasping for breath. Her vision starts to blur as she feels herself start to slip away but she’s fighting, she’s fighting so hard, to stay awake... _stay awake._

“Who d’you think you are, lady?!”

“Why don’t you come find out?”

There’s movement as the rest of the assailants rush her would-be rescuer and she can hear the thuds as fists meet flesh and somehow she is being lulled, further and further, into unconsciousness...

_No, don’t...stay awake..._

A flash of red crosses her vision, and she hears people running away, they’re running, they’re running.

_I’m safe._ And just as she lets herself go her emerald eyes lock, for an instant, with another’s.

_Sapphire..._

And then darkness.


	2. A Healing Thought

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Sapphire eyed rescuer returns home with a raven-haired beauty in tow, only what to do now?

“Naga...back up girl.”

The pure white husky, coming to greet her owner after a long day home alone, does as commanded and gives the woman struggling into the apartment more space. The woman stumbles in, closing the door with her foot, grunting and cursing. Heaving the weight she carries into a more comfortable position, she heads straight for her room and, gently, carefully, lays her burden on the bed. Her burden is a young woman with raven black hair that cascades in waves around her pale face...or at least it would be pale, if it weren’t black and blue with bruises...or red with blood.

“Spirits...” she mutters. “Look what they did to you...”

She reaches out and gently, carefully, slips the black leather jacket from the girl’s shoulders. It’s sodden with rain and, she notes, with blood too. Leaning forward, the rescuer notices a deep gash on the raven’s arm. A clean cut.

“Those bastards...” the woman hisses, removing the rest of the girl’s torn, bloodied clothing and dumping it behind her. Going into the kitchen, she turns on the tap and fills a large bowl with cold water. She feels Naga nudge her gently on the knee and, smiling, she reaches down and rubs her behind the ears.

“Wanna help girl?” she smiles. “Can you fetch the bandages? Go on, fetch!”

The husky happily patters off, her tail wagging, leaving her owner behind to tend to this new visitor. Back in the bedroom, the woman has set her bowl of water on the bedside table and is sitting on the edge of the bed, watching as her patient takes hard, laboured breaths. She examines her, inspecting her body for further injuries before reaching over and dipping her tanned hand into the bowl of water. She swirls the water for a moment before withdrawing her hand, drawing the water up with it until her hand is surrounded by a cool, ethereal glow. She smiles, feeling the healing benefits of the water on her bruised knuckles, and then places her hand on the wound on the girl’s shoulder. The light of the water intensifies for a moment, then calms as the flesh stitches back together beneath the woman’s hand. There is a sigh from her as the wound is closed, and she traces the place it used to be with her fingertips, feeling soft, smooth skin. She grins, and moves on with her task, running the glowing water throughout the girl’s body. She heals the cuts and bruises, moving her hands smoothly as she examines her.

It becomes clear that this isn’t the first tussle the girl has encountered. Her arms and legs bare scars from past battles, older bruises and, she notices, an old, deep scar marring the smooth flesh of the her strong, lean abdomen.

_This girl’s almost as beat up as me..._ the woman notes, running the water over strong, lean muscle. She grunts when she finds a cracked rib, working on it as much as she can before submitting to it.

_There’s only so much my healing abilities can do_ , she admits, moving her hands up to the girl’s neck and healing the bruises there, before cleaning the cuts and grazes on her face, revealing gentle features and full lips...

The woman starts, thrown off by her last thought but she settles and looks at this girl before her, let’s her sapphire eyes linger for a moment on this woman, who has clearly been through so much. Let’s herself tentatively, gently, tuck a lock of raven black hair behind the girl’s ear, knowing that she shouldn’t be doing this, shouldn’t be looking at this girl like this but...

_She’s so beautiful..._

A huff from Naga startles her from her thoughts and she looks over to see the husky sitting patiently, a roll of bandages at her feet. The woman giggles, and rubs the husky behind the ears.

“Good girl, Naga,” she murmurs. “Let’s get her dressed up, huh?” She then moves on and wraps up the girl’s ribcage, helping to support the cracked rib.

“Not much else I can do for that,” she huffs, scratching the back of her head. She then finds some clean clothes and dresses the girl, before tucking her in under the blankets. She smiles at her handiwork, pleased she could help this woman.

_I wish I could do more._

Her smile drops at the thought, looking at her patient with sympathy in her eyes.

“What’s a girl like you doing in a place like this?”


End file.
